Difference Maker
by 2theSky
Summary: (Set after the Uprising episode "The Stranger") Beck's on a train to run an errand for Able, and ends up overhearing a conversation about his alter ego.


**"Yeah, isn't it amazing how a man can find himself alone; call into the darkness for an answer that's he's never known. Yeah, isn't it amazing how God can take a broken man. Yeah, let him find a fortune, let him ruin it with his own two hands…"**

Torture.

This was torture.

As the program behind him kept tapping on the table, their fingers drumming annoyingly throughout the ride, Beck banged his head off the back of his not-so-comfortable seat. "Thank you, Able," he muttered gruffly, closing his eyes and trying to focus on something other than the irksome drumming behind him. Didn't that program have anything better to do?

"-Renegade's a menace?! How can you say that?"

Beck jumped as his alter ego was mentioned; he completely forgot about the drumming. First the drumming, now the too-close-to-home conversation topic…

This idea of Able's got better by the nanocycle.

The program who was drumming turned towards a conversation across from Beck and asked, "I'm sorry, but I couldn't help but overhear… what's wrong with the Renegade?"

"Oh, please," a male program snorted, his red circuits reminding Beck sharply of Bodhi; the circuitry design was far too similar. Beck shook his head as he watched it all unfold between the drummer- which he had just noticed had ceased his drumming- and three other programs, two males and one female with grey hair that was unusually long. She looked annoyed at the male whose circuits resembled Bodhi's; the guy on her other side, with only pale white circuits, just pressed his fingertips on the bridge of his nose, his dark skin immediately triggering memories of Cutler.

But the program who Beck couldn't see, the infamous drummer, was persistent. "What's so bad about him?"

The girl rolled her eyes. "He's a menace! Look at how much destruction he's caused."

The dark skinned program just slowly shook his head, obviously not agreeing, but not speaking up either.

Beck watched the drummer's hand appear on his blue and black seat handle as the train sped past Bismuth, heading for a remote city that Beck was just now hearing about from Able; he was heading to… great, he'd managed to forget in all the chaos of the debate around him. It was wherever the train stopped- that much he knew.

The drumming program sighed as he turned slightly in his seat, which Beck heard rather than saw, and he said simply, "I don't agree with you."

**"He walks on up the hill to the rock on which he stands. He looks back at the crowd. He looks down at his hands and he says, 'I am a difference maker'…"**

The two programs were appalled. "And just what makes you think otherwise?" the girl spat, glaring at him.

SIlence reigned in the air for a moment before the program finally voiced, in a timid volume, "He saved my life."

**"Oh, I am the difference maker. Oh, I am the only one that speaks to him. And I am the friendliest of friends of God…"**

Beck's eyes went wide as he immediately diverted his gaze to the floor, which was suddenly very interesting. When had he saved that program?!

The other three programs were interested, and the one with the red circuits jeered, "He only causes trouble, you idiot."

"You wouldn't feel the same way if you were in my position."

**"I am on the fence about nearly everything I've seen. And I have felt the fire be put out by too much gasoline…"**

Beck frowned, back to watching the conversation instead of the ground. The program sounded somewhat familiar; it was way too vague… but there was recognition, just a sliver. Who-

"Then tell me about it," the one sneered, glancing at Beck in the process; why was some random program caring about their conversation. True, they were a little- at least he was- raucous.

The other program nodded. "Okay. Do you remember when General Tesler put all those roadblocks in place about two hilocycles ago?"

The girl nodded. "Yeah. One of the bridges derezzed from excessive weight from the traffic, right?"

Beck heard a "yes" drowning in memory as he was sure he heard the program think, and he immediately knew where he was from.

The bridge had collapsed; the Occupation was checking every program's disk and vehicle individually. The traffic was backed up over the bridge, which ran over the main highway into and out of Argon. Unable to stand the strain, it crumbled to bits, raining blue and black on the programs as it crashed into the roadblock on the road below it. All the civilians had managed to escape the area-

except one.

**"And we're all strangers passing through a place and time, afternoon. Life is but a vision in a window that we're peeking through…"**

"… I don't know how he got there, with the traffic jam and the crowd," the program explained, his voice thick with thankfulness, "but he did. I was buried under a beam from the bridge, along with a few Black Guards who… didn't make it. But he helped lift the beam and pulled me out of the rubble just before another beam derezzed above the one pinning me. If it fell, I would've been crushed."

The girl and the guy who was remarkably quiet listened reverently, while their friend's eyes still held a look of disbelief. But the program continued on: "He shook my shoulders to keep me awake because someone shouted that medics were coming. He asked if I was okay-"

Beck's fingers curled around the armrests, his breathing tight and quick. He remembered nervously shaking the program as his eyes rolled back, scratches and slashes all over his limp body, blue code dripping down his limbs and suit, splattering onto the pavement. A hoarse "are you okay?" left his lips, which looking back on it seemed far too much like a stupid question.

"-and he told me to hang on. Then he left as the medics showed up, along with Commander Paige."

Beck looked away again as the dark skinned program looked his way; after meeting… meeting Cyrus… he was so unsure if he was doing any good for anyone. He was just the replacement for a maniac, and that wasn't encouraging in the least. If Tron had just told him to begin with, that wouldn't have been so bad.

But thankfully, Cyrus was gone.

Sadly, his words weren't.

**"A helpless conversation with a man who says he cares a lot. It's a passive confrontation about who might throw a punch or not. We are all transgressors, we're all sinners, we're all astronauts. So if you're beating death then raise your hand but shut up if you're not…"**

After listening to the program's testimony, the hard-nosed program finally softened. "Okay, so he's not entirely a selfish jerk. I'll give him that much."

The other program just sighed and said, "He's not a jerk at all. He's a hero. Even if I'm the only one that feels that way, he's a hero to me."

Beck's throat tightened at those words, and he could barely swallow, resulting in a cough. The girl across from him who'd been involved in the conversation looked over in concern. "Are you okay?"

Not trusting himself at all with an answer, Beck nodded quickly.

The two guys with her looked at him for a nanocycle, the bolder of the two commenting, "You were pretty interested in our little conversation over here. What do you think?"

The program with the tale to tell turned around in his seat, facing Beck. Sure enough, it was him. Dark hair falling in curls to his shoulders, pale circuits accented with dark purple ones, and grey eyes with vibrant streaks of light blue. A few scars could be seen from the accident, but only dimly as they had faded into his somewhat medium toned skin.

Beck took a deep breath. "I… I honestly don't know," he answered truthfully. "But I hope he's doing good."

The drumming program grinned. "I'm not alone, then?"

Beck grinned. "Nope."

**"'Cause I am the difference maker. Oh, I am the only one that speaks to him. And I am the friendliest of friends of God…"**

But as the train rolled to a halt at its stop, the program who'd spoken so boldly against the Renegade at first stared after Beck as he walked off, turning the conversation and the program's reaction to it over in his head.

As soon as Beck was out of sight, however, the Renegade appeared from an alleyway-

the same one Beck had turned into.

The Renegade ran, rezzing up his lightcycle and following an Occupation truck past the lightrail station. The program's eyes widened slightly and his jaw dropped for a nanocycle as he realized the Renegade could've been sitting across from him the whole time. As his two friends dragged him off in the direction Beck had walked, asking him why he was acting so strangely, he kept glancing back in the direction of the shipment and the Renegade. What if… that program was the Renegade?

He shook his head and gave up. It could've been anyone in those buidlings over the alleyway. It could've been one of the other passengers who walked into the alley first-

but he had a strong hunch it was the program across from him who answered his question with, "'I hope he's doing good.' "

**"I am the difference maker. Oh, I am the only one that speaks to him. And I am the friendliest of friends of God…"**

* * *

><p><em>- this oneshot was written for Welcome to the New, who suggested i use the song "Difference Maker" by NEEDTOBREATHE. (thank you for being patient and waiting so long for this!)<em>

_sorry for any mistakes- i checked and double-checked, but i might've missed something :(_

_the lyrics are from the song... which i just said... "Difference Maker" by NEEDTOBREATHE_

_have a great day and God bless! :)_


End file.
